


Firsts

by writergeekcos



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Crush, First Dance, First Kiss, First Love, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writergeekcos/pseuds/writergeekcos
Summary: First crush. First dance. First kiss. First love. Gray, or Crackle, was a lot of firsts for Carmen. These are Carmen's stories of all of her firsts with Gray.(Takes place after season 2 episode 7. Updates on Thursdays)
Relationships: Gray | Crackle/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	1. First Crush

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness, I finished season 4 at 2:30 am a few days ago and Red Crackle hit me like a truck. I love this ship sooooo much! Enjoy this fic!

Carmen looked out the window of the plane as they left Australia. Only an hour ago, she’d left Gray at the café, after the business in New Zealand. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the trembling of her bottom lip, the tightness of her throat, the stinging of her eyes. She gripped her hands tight into fists and waited for the shaking to stop. 

“Carmen?” Ivy asked, startling Carmen into opening her eyes. “Gosh, Carm, you okay?” Ivy’s face filled with concern. 

Across the cabin, Zack straightened. Shadow-san emerged from the back of the plane, looking worried as well. 

“I’m fine,” Carmen said, though her voice broke on the last word. She turned away to hide a tear that escaped. 

Silence filled the cabin. After several moments, Shadow-san finally broke it and said, 

“It is Gray, is it not?” 

She turned toward him and nodded once. “I just miss him.” 

Ivy and Zack exchanged confused looks. “Didn’t he try to hurt you?” Zack asked. “On the train from Poitiers?” 

“Yeah, he tried to shock you,” Ivy agreed. “I know he got his memories wiped, but that doesn’t change who he was.” Her expression was sad, full of pity. 

Carmen turned away. “You didn’t know him back then. He was good. He was kind. He was…he was…” She searched for the words with grasping fingers, coming up empty, until, “He was my first.” 

Ivy’s eyebrows raised. “First? What does that mean?” 

Shadow-san gave a small smile. “I think it’s time for some stories.” 

Carmen nodded. “Four stories.” She looked to Ivy and Zack. “About Gray. Will you listen?” 

She hadn’t realized how tense she was until Ivy and Zack looked at each other, then at her, and nodded. Carmen pulled out her phone and called up Player. 

“Hey, kiddo,” she said. She placed the phone on the seat beside her, so Player could see the entire cabin, with everyone in it. 

“Hey, Red,” Player said. “What’s with the call? Not that you need a reason, but…you get what I’m saying.” 

“Well, I have some stories. About Gray,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I thought everyone deserved to hear them.” 

Player nodded, looking solemn. “He was your best friend back on V.I.L.E. island, right? I don’t mind hearing more about him.” 

Carmen smiled sadly. “He was more than just my best friend, Player.” 

“Carmen says he was her ‘first’,” Zack said. “Not sure what that means, though.” 

Carmen shrugged. “You’ll see.” She sat back, closing her eyes. Letting herself get lost in the memories. Then, only when she was ready, did she start speaking. 

1\. First Crush 

I was seventeen when I realized it. Well, I was seventeen when we met. He was eighteen at the time. For about five seconds there, we hated each other. Then, on the day we met, I made my position clear, and things just sort of…fell into place, after that. We became best friends. This is the part Player remembers. Gray and I were inseparable. The whole crew was, but it was always me and Gray at the end. We’d steal extra food from the kitchens, hide it under our beds and eat it at one am when everyone else had gone to sleep. He was like a big brother for me there, for a while. 

Then everything changed one day, during practice. 

It was business as usual with Coach Brunt. We were sparring, and Gray and I had been partnered, like always. And like always, I was beating him. Then he decided to play dirty. Not like that! It was like this: 

I threw a punch and hit him, square in the stomach. He doubled over, grimacing. I thought I’d actually hurt him, so I paused. But he stood up and gave me that smile. God, that smile. 

“You got me, Black Sheep,” he said. 

I straightened. “Of course, I got you,” I said. “I always do.” 

He stepped closer. I stood my ground. He kept coming closer, raising a hand to touch my arm. Not hard, but soft. A feather of a touch. I felt a flush coming over me, and I think that was the start of it. 

Then he yanked my arm and flipped me over. 

I fell hard on my back. “Gray!” I shouted. “No fair!” 

“What’s going on over here?” Coach Brunt said, coming over to us. She looked at me, on the ground, and Gray, standing over me. “What’d you do to my lambkins?” she asked, that angry frown on her face. 

“N-nothing,” I said, suddenly eager to have her anywhere but there. “It was fine. Gray beat me, fair and square.” 

Gray looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I gave him that ‘trust me’ look, and he nodded, reaching over to grip my hand and help me up. Coach Brunt seemed satisfied, and she walked away. 

I held on to Gray’s hand for a fraction longer than necessary and after a moment, withdrew my hand in a panic. 

“You all right, Black Sheep?” he said. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to fight dirty.” 

I smirked. “We’re thieves. We’re supposed to fight dirty.” 

He laughed. “Fair enough.” 

As the day went on, I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Of course, I’d heard of crushes, but that didn’t happen to thieves. Didn’t happen to me. But I couldn’t ignore what was happening. Every time Gray looked at me, I looked away, palms sweaty and face flushing. He even winked at me once, just to get a reaction out of me, and boy, did he get one. He would speak to me, and all I could do was stammer a response. 

Finally, he cornered me after Shadow-san’s lesson that day. “Black Sheep,” he said, waving me down. I yelped. “You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been avoiding me since this morning.” 

“I uh…I’m fine,” I said. 

“No, you’re not.” He put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “If I did something wrong…tell me. Please.” 

I could never say no to him back then. So, I said carefully, “Look, Gray, I’m sorry. I’ve just had a lot on my mind today. It’s nothing against you, really. I’m just stressed.” Growing up in a school for thieves, I’d learned how to lie. So Gray only raised an eyebrow and said, 

“All right then.” He sighed and said, “But if you ever need me, Black Sheep, I’m right here.” He gave me that smile and actually leaned in to kiss my temple. I don’t think I’d ever blushed so hard. He walked away, and that was when I realized it. 

I had a crush on Gray.


	2. First Dance

Interlude

\--

It was hard to tell who was more shocked: Ivy or Zack. Both of their eyes were blown wide open, their jaws practically on the floor. 

“So that’s what it was like,” Ivy said. “That’s why you guys were so weird. You liked him!” 

“Yes,” Carmen said. “I did.” I do, she almost wanted to say. But what she felt now was so much more than a crush. 

“Now, you said there were four stories?” Zack said, sitting up from his position on the floor. “What’s the next one?” 

“Yeah, what next? What don’t I know?” Player said with a smirk. “This is all news to me, Red. How come you never told me about this?” 

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It was all sort of…private, I guess. I had a hard time admitting it to myself, even.” 

“Fair.” 

“Now, on to the next one.” Carmen leaned back in her chair and looked out the window. “This one was fun.” 

2\. First Dance 

I certainly didn’t tell you this, Player, because you were so young at the time and what we were doing was certainly illegal in the rest of the world, but Gray and I used to sneak into the faculty kitchen and steal their alcohol. Oh, don’t give me that look, Ivy! I was raised in a school for thieves! 

Anyway, this was one such night after Gray and I had done that, and we were sitting on a rocky outcropping on the far side of the island to the school, just this side of tipsy. Yet, even though we were seeing the world through wine-colored glasses, I remember every detail. The important ones, anyway. 

Gray laughed at a joke I’d made, and sat down, tripping as he did so. 

“You’re so drunk,” I laughed, face flushed. 

“Pot calling the kettle black, love,” he said, holding up his bottle. A pleased sensation fluttered through me at him calling me ‘love’. By this point, I was well aware of my crush on him. It had been several months since that day I’d realized it. Graduation was approaching faster than either of us was ready for though, and we’d grabbed the wine to take our minds off of it. Boy, was it working. 

I sat down next to him, kicking my legs off of the rock we sat on. He scooched closer to me, and I shivered, not from the cold wind. 

“Penny for your thoughts, Black Sheep,” he said. 

“You don’t have a penny,” I said, like an idiot. That may have just been the wine talking, though. 

“Don’t I?” he smirked, that smirk that made me die a little inside, and reached behind my ear. I gasped in a breath, but he’d already pulled a penny out, holding it before my eyes. 

“How you can do that while tipsy, I have no idea,” I laughed. 

“Once a thief, always a thief, right?” 

I rolled my eyes and took a swig from my own bottle. The warmth of the alcohol served to distract me from the pounding of my heart. “But seriously, what are you thinking about?” 

I shrugged. I couldn’t tell him what I was actually thinking about. How close I was to leaning over and finding out how soft his lips actually were. How much I wanted to run my hands through his hair. How I wanted to dance with him—

“I’ve never danced with anyone.” 

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Gray turned, looked at me, and burst out laughing. 

“What?” I snapped, a little too loud. 

“You’ve never danced with anyone? Really?” 

“Now you’re just making fun of me.” I glared. 

He calmed down, holding up a hand. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean, that’s all? If you wanted to, you should’ve just asked.” 

“Wh-what?” 

Gray hopped off the rock, onto the sand below. There was a patch of sand below us that just touched the sea, though it was far out at the moment. He held up his hand to me. 

“Dance with me, Black Sheep?” 

I blushed, hard. Surely he didn’t mean that? But the look in his eyes was earnest, and so I took his hand. He pulled me down and against him. A breath escaped me at the close contact. He adjusted us so that we were in the proper position for a waltz, with one of his hands on my waist, and one of mine on his shoulder. Our other hands were clasped together. He smiled down at me. “Don’t worry,” he said with a wink. “I promise I’m not that bad a dancer.” 

“B-but what do I do?” I asked, staring down at our feet. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. 

“Well, I guess we could try a basic box step, but for now, we can just sway.” 

That got me to look up at him. He was silhouetted perfectly by the moonlight, a soft smile on his face. I found that once I looked at him, I couldn’t turn away. 

He stepped sideways, and I followed his lead. Then he stepped back the other way, and I did too. We continued doing this for several minutes until I said, 

“Is this it?” 

He shrugged. “If you want it to be.” 

What did I want? I just wanted this moment to continue on forever. I wanted to stay here, dancing with Gray, until the world ended. He gave me a smile, and I smiled back. It would be so easy, I thought. So easy to lean in, figure out what he tasted like. But I didn’t. 

Instead, I placed my head on his chest, and sighed contentedly. I felt him stiffen under me for a moment, but then he relaxed and chuckled. 

“Tired?” he asked. 

“No.” I shook my head. “Just happy.” 

He didn’t speak, and for a moment I wondered if I’d said the wrong thing. But I heard the smile in his voice as he said, 

“Me too.” 

We swayed like that for several minutes, until he started humming something under his breath. It was a soft song, with a 1-2-3 beat. Curious, I asked, 

“What song is that?” 

“What, you’ve never heard of Elvis Presley?” 

I frowned. “Of course I have. But I’ve never actually heard any of his music.” 

“You haven’t?” Gray seemed shocked. “Lord, I haven’t had enough alcohol.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Because now I’m going to have to sing you all of his music.” 

“Sing? Why?” 

Gray shrugged, and said, “No phones, remember?” 

“Oh,” I said. “Right. Well, what was the one you were humming just now?” 

Gray looked away, and I swore his face was red. But maybe that was just the moonlight. “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” he said after a moment. “It’s my favorite song by him.” 

“Oh.” Now I was blushing. When neither of us said anything for a moment, I leaned back in and placed my head on his chest. 

“Hey, Black Sheep?” 

I raised my head and looked at him. “Hm?” 

The world slowed down then. He looked at me, and I felt like there was nothing in the world but us. The stars faded, and all I felt was him. He leaned his forehead against mine. 

“I’m always going to be here for you, Black Sheep,” he whispered. 

“M-me too,” I said. 

He leaned in. I closed my eyes. 

“Where are they? I know I saw them around here.” Sheena’s voice startled us apart. Gray stared at me, wide-eyed in the moonlight. We scrambled for our wine bottles, seeming to be thinking the same thing. 

And of course, they caught us. But when they did, we were both too drunk to care. I don’t know about him, but the wine seemed to make the tension a little more bearable. 

I don’t usually remember much after I get drunk. But that time, I remembered everything. I remembered Gray’s hands on mine, the way he hummed Elvis under his breath. I wish that moment could have lasted forever. But of course, like all good things, it didn’t.


End file.
